2015-02-19 - Tall Buildings in a Single Bound
Welcome to Metropolis! the signs say as you drive into the city. They're clean and well cared for, with a really good repair plan. The city kind of expects things to break, and they've got the best defense team going as well. This is, as the signs 'subtly' suggest, the home of Superman. Oh, and Supergirl. Occasionally Superboy, and I hear tales there's a dog. You never really know. Anyway. A delivery of concrete for one of the new mansions is passing over the bridge. Nothing special there, until the driver sees someone in the road ahead and tries to avoid. He clips a support, and his loaded concrete truck starts to fall off the bridge. At the same time, Mia Walkers is driving her cheap rental car back from a day job she had on the island. She sees the accident, and meeps, slamming the brakes, and gets out, watching this happen. One, truck falling. Can't fly, can't do anything. Two, the structure of the bridge starting to snap. That...she can help with. She slaps on her mask and runs for the quickly separating cable. As Mia runs for the cable to grab it, the truck goes over the side of the bridge! Oh the horror! Oh the screaming in terror! Oh the poor driver and passenger in it! Oh... it stopped falling because a blonde girl in a blue outfit and red cape flew in and caught it. Also known as... Supergirl ™. Kara flies back up to the bridge, holding the truck over her head. The arrival of a flying truck is amazing, far more impressive than the girl in blue work clothes running over to the side and grabbing ahold of the steel cable. Well, mostly, the cable tearing free was about to start destabilizing the whole bridge. Instead, nothing happens except the girl holding a two foot thick steel cable with one petite hand and a section of bridge with the other. And people cheer for the Girl in Blue. And red. Mia, over by the edge of the action, frowns a bit as she says, "Okay...NOW what do I do?" Looking from one hand to the other, she realizes she has no idea how to tie this damn thing off. Kara Zor-El sets the truck down on the ground, and waves a little at the people in the truck and the crowd, before seeing Mia and what she's doing. So she flies over to her, looks at the cable she's holding in one hand, and the section of bridge in the other. "That's.... really impressive." She peers at her and her incredible feat of strength.. She'd just check to see if she's a mutant or metahuman or something, but didn't want to be rude. First things first. "Need any help?" Mia doesn't seem to be straining much at all, holding onto the bridge cable the way she is. She looks up at Supergirl and nods, having run up to the thing and grabbed her back is to the road so she has to look over her shoulder. "Bit of an idiot here, don't mind me. How do you...you know, eventually let go of this? I mean I don't mind helping out but eventually I'd like to go." She's dressed in a blue work shirt and heavy weave jeans. And a mask. So the identity thing is probably an issue. The people on the bridge cheer a bit more, snap a few pictures, and most get back in their cars and go. A couple notice the side issue going on and snap a few more shots, impressed to see Supergirl and some other person. Kara Zor-El tilts her head. "Tell you what... can you pull the cable right up to the metal part of the bridge?" Both to gauge this girl's strength and to fix the bridge thing. Then turns to the crowd who are snapping pictures and watching. "Um... everyone should really get off the bridge until we fix this, people!" Yeah, people are dumb. Mia growls a little at them, having enough spare energy to get annoyed at lookie-loos, and rolls her eyes. "Sure, gimme a second," she says as Kara interrupts her train of thought. She seems distracted. A flex of her arms, and the multi-tonne bridge pulls into place, with the cable pressing into place with apparent ease. "Do we, like, call a repair crew or something? I've never done this before." Her foot hooks into the support so she can free one hand, and she uses the free hand to adjust her bangs out of her eyes. Kara Zor-El watches Mia. Yeah, this girl is definitely incredibly strong. She doesnt know a lot of people who can do that - at least beyond her and Kal and Karen. And probably Kon. "Not quite.... Okay... keep your hand clear...." Her eyes then glow red and fire out twin beams of heat, melting the thick steel cable and the metal support of the bridge together into one congealed lump. Then she stops the heat vision and blows on it a bit with some quick freeze breath, quickly resolidifying it. She peers at the patch job. "Okay... now let go of it, I think it should hold until they get a real repair crew here." She looks at Mia. "So .... I'm Kara. And you are?" she asks, offering her hand to shake. Mia moves her hands further up the cable so she can minimize the heat on her hands. Obviously used to being burned, she's definitely cautious about the eye vision. Her eyes widen in quiet amazement and..a touch of jealousy as she watches the heating and, afterward, sudden cooling. 'cool', she breathes as she carefully lets go, making sure it'll hold before she lets the bridge take the weight. A quick shake of her head, and she bites her lower lip, then shakes Kara's hand. "I....got no idea how to answer that, to be honest. Kara. Only name I have is the one I was born with, and if that gets out my family might be in danger." She pauses, then...squeezes experimentally. She's testing Supergirl a little in return, having a sense of mischief. Kara Zor-El looks at Mia quizzically. "Yeah... Kara was the name I was born with too. I just thought, you know, it's easier to call you by your name instead of just 'hey you.'" She smiles. " I undestand the whole secret identity thing though, even if I barely use one myeslf. Um... how about this - what would you like me to call you?" she asks as Mia squeezes Kara's hand testingly. Obviously it doesnt seem to hurt Kara in the slightest, though she does notice that Mia's squeezing. Kara adds, "Hope you don't do handshakes like that with everyone?" Mia lets go, running her hand through her short hair and blushing a little. "Girl has to know. I mean, how often am I likely to find out how I stack up against the city's nobility." She's not asking, from the tone of her voice. Just talking. "Umm..." she pauses, frowning, then says, "Okay fine, Cira. That's a name I don't use anymore anyway..." She glances back at the bridge then at the onlookers. Then her eyes widen and she looks a little panicked. "Aw crapholes.." Kara Zor-El tilts her head curiously. "Nobility? I never really heard anyone call me -that-...." She stops shaking Mia (Cira)'s hand when Mia suddenly gets panicked and looks around, then back at Mia. "What Cira?" Mia smiles a little woodenly as her eyes are locked on the people watching from the sidelines. "There are people watching," she says out of the corner of her mouth, trying not to look too obvious. "I under..stand that you can fly away and all but I have to walk through them to my car, and then they'll know which car is mine, and I didn't hide my licence plate. You get my meaning?" Kara Zor-El looks around at the crowd, then at Mia. "Ohhh. Yeah... crowds do that when superheroing stuff happens. I understand though. One sec." She walks away from them to the crowd, "Guys? I know people want to watch this... but the bridge is REALLY unstable right now. Seriously. And if it collapses, I think everyone here can agree it's better to not be on it during that time, versus making bets on if I'm able to rescue everyone in time. So... um... please get off of it?" Mia tries to look like someone not worth paying attention to by standing and doing nothing. With Kara actually walking around talking to folks, the tactic mostly works. 'random masked person' fails next to a well known figure every time. She taps her toe a little, watching as folks start to head off. Some fast, taking the warning seriously, and helped by a police officer who finally showed up. Mia/Cira for her part glances through them at her stupid little rental and bites her lip impatiently. They do back off, but traffic is backed up a bit. Kara Zor-El moves back over to around where Mia is and says, not looking directly at her, "If you want, get into your car and I can fly us and your car somewhere else to talk without it being so conspicuous?" Meanwhile, the police who finally arrives start to block off the bridge while Emergency Services arrive. "Yeah, nobody saw me get out of it," Mia says as she watches the troops take care of the poor cement truck driver and block the street. She goes to her car and quickly (really quickly, as in faster than most people can track) covers her license plate with what looks like make-up. She gets in at a normal speed, having to shut the door twice to get it to latch. Then she rolls down the window and ducks so she's hard to see. Kara Zor-El nods to herself. "Subtle." She heads over to the car now that the police have things well underhand, picking up the car and flies off. She looks around as they fly, calling up to her, "Hope everything's okay up there, Cira?" Then looks down again, looking for an unpopulated place to land. She finds it about 5 miles away, setting the car down in a mostly empty parking lot. As the car is set down, the door opens and Mia falls out onto the ground on her stomach. She scrabbles a bit then pushes to her feet, trying not to look embarrased and failing, but she brushes herself off with her hands. "Sorry. Not used to cars moving like that. With the picking up and moving around and things and I'm not afraid of heights at all! Look, a distraction." She stops to breathe, and puts her hands in her pockets. Which immediately tear as her hands go right through them, making her wince and curse inwardly. Kara Zor-El just smiles. "Nah... I'm sorry - that flight could have been smoother." She watches as Mia tears through her pockets. "Um... have you had your strength for a long time? Actually.... hold that answer." She looks around. "Let me just change quick so no one who might wander in here wonders why you're talking to Supergirl, okay?" Then there's a blue blur, and she's gone. At least she's gone for a couple of seconds. Because then she's right back in civilian clothes. "Okay... that's better." Mia opens her mouth to answer, then closes it as she's told to hold it a moment. She frowns a little, then blinks in surprise at the speed. And the reappearance. "Gah, that was really messed up," she says, rubbing her eyes with her fingers for a moment. She gives herself a little shake, then says, "I SAW you move. I should not have been able to see you move. I mean, I couldn't do anything about it but I could see it." After a second's thought, she tacks on belatedly, "No. Not long at all. What gave it away?" She frowns a little deeper, scratching her head a little. "And I would dearly love to know how you get away with looking like that and not having people instantly know you're Supergirl when you're out shopping." Kara Zor-El leans against the car. "Well... it sort of helps that I don't actually hide my identity. But my only surviving family are superheroes, and most of my friends are superheroes... so... yeah." She pauses. "Actually I do have a secret identity that I don't use much. Hair's all different and everything. I'm still amazed when I bother to use it that people don't notice." She pats Mia's shoulder. "So you were able to see me move even at superspeed? That's again... really.... sorta impressive actually." She peers at her. "Mind if I ask ... you're not a mutant are you? I mean... I read up on mutants, and most of them actually get their powers when they are younger than you. But I'm not an expert on mutants." She still hasnt bothered to just look at the DNA. Mia listens. She gets a rather confused expression on her face when Kara is talking about her identity, and nods when she's told about the super speed. "I've never met anyone who could move fast before, had no idea I could do it." Pausing, then when Kara asks if she's a mutant she throws her hands up in the air in apparent frustration. "Honestly, I have no...look, I'm adopted. My parents never made any secret of it, and since they already had a little girl a bit older than me they had clothes and stuff. Thing is, I was fully expecting to get old as a mediocre teacher or a librarian or something and die alone with six cats or something. Few weeks ago, anyway. Then I woke up and accidentally tore my bedroom door out of the hinges and pulped the handle. We don't exactly know doctors for that kind of stuff. Do you? Because it's as cool as all hell but I still worry if I'm not dying or something." Kara Zor-El tilts her head. "Actually... I sorta do. When I crashed on Earth... after some time in quarantine in Antarctica ...." She thinks. "Then on an island full of Amazons." She sits on the car thinking about that. "Then after getting kidnapped by an evil space god guy and brainwashed into turning evil." She pauses. "Oh yeah where was I... anyway... I went to this place here in Metropolis called STAR Labs where they tried to do some gauging of my powers like they did with Kal. Er... my cousin. Kal. I mean... Superman." Kara shrugs. "Anyway... they can probbly help. Actually... mind if I ask permission to do something? Could I just look at your DNA?" Okay, that sounded weird, Kara. Mia feels a teensy bit creeped out by the question, though she was already getting a little idea she was out of her depth from the story that came before it. "I guess, if you want to. I could do a mouth swab if you've got a sterile case for it so your STAR labs friends can have a look, but I was really hoping not to get my identity out there and really, there's not a whole lot of more ways to identify yourself better than your DNA and I'm missing something here aren't I?" She was watching Kara's face as she talked and got the idea that she wasn't answering the question right from her expressions. Kara Zor-El explains. "Oh um... no, nothing like that. I mean... maybe STAR Labs would do that. But with me it's... okay... it's just... mutants have a pretty specific thing about their DNA and I can see down to the sub-atomic level if I try... so seeing DNA isnt actually that hard. I've just found it's good to ask so people don't think I'm prying." She peers at Mia for a few seconds, looking her up and down. "Definitely not mutant..." She peers again, something's odd about the DNA though. Odd but familiar. "Wait a second..." she says with a confused sounding voice. "Your DNA .." She counts the number of pairings. "It almost looks Kryptonian." She pauses, then adds, "-ish." Almost like Kon's? But Kon was a hybrid clone. Mia nods as she's inspected, putting her hands on her hips so her elbows stick out. She tries not to move too much, assuming it makes a difference. "Kryptonian-ish. I'm going to throw out a guess and say you know where Kryptonia is? And have I mentioned how odd it feels to have someone look at me that intensely who isn't staring at my chest?" Kara Zor-El peers at Mia, putting her hand on Mia's shoulder. "Okay... yourr parents adopted you - do you know anything about your BIRTH parents though?" Flopping down on a nearby appropriate seat-like item, Mia lets out her breath in a whistle. She looks Kara over a moment, then says, "Nothing. My parents showed me where they found me once, but there wasn't anything to go on. I think they built a casino over the spot, couple blocks from here actually. You can see it over that way. Why, am I Superman's kid or something?" She points west, toward some lights. Kara Zor-El pauses. "I don't think Kal - I mean..." There arent any other Kryptonians though - except maybe the ones in the phantom zone like Zod. Who knows, maybe she IS. "All I'm saying is maybe there's another Kryptonian who survived.... or...." Yeah she's not going to say clone. She looks over at the lights at that point. "What, the casino?" Kara Zor-El peers at the casino several blocks away. "They found you at a casino?" Mia says, "It wasn't a casino then. Look, if you can see through me, you can probably see from here. There's a porch out back of it with a big garden. The owners apparently came in and dumped like fifty tons of topsoil over the site and planted begonias or something like that over the spot. Does it matter?" She pauses, then pulls her own hair roughly. Which does not break, attesting to how tough it is and proceeds to talk to herself a moment. "Of course it frigging matters you idiot. Why else would she be asking?" Kara Zor-El peers more at the casino, then under it. "Actually... I think I see something buried that looks suspicious." She takes Mia by the hand and superspeeds over there with her, over the spot where the pod is buried. "Yeah, that's definitely not from Earth." she says, looking at the ground. Mia flinches at the speed, though she takes it well enough. Arriving at the location she immediately kicks over a bunch of flowers for no reason. "Pretty sure they're daisies, actually. They're from Finland or something." Kara Zor-El looks at Mia quizzically. "What? No... I mean what's buried down there. It's like 30 feet down. Looks sort of like an ejection pod." She pauses. "Okay I'm going to get it... stand back okay?" Mia frowns. She motions toward the flower bed and says, "Go right ahead, I never liked this place anyway." Then she steps back and finds a place to sit and watch. Mia says, "You know, I think I'm adapting to all this very well. The best part of all this? I can hear music all the time. Sometimes it's pretty far away, but I can always have music. Someone somewhere is playing something." Kara Zor-El listens. "Do you mean the Concert Hall a mile away?" She pauses, "Anyway..." Then she starts to spin around. Faster and faster, until she burrows into the ground like a grill.... after which she flies out with the pod and puts it back on the ground. Mia listens as hard as she can. She frowns, then points. "I kind of meant the...oh whoo, never mind that stuff!" She grins as Kara drills into the ground, covering her face from any flying dirt but mostly ignoring any rocks that might bounce off of her. She gets up and comes over to see the pod, open curiosity on her face. "Woah. This is...seriously high tech. Is this a space ship?" She hasn't even seen inside yet. Kara Zor-El looks the pod over. "I'm honestly not sure..." She checks out the pod, trying to see if there's any writing on it, or any particular alloys that can be identified. Mia pokes at the side of the pod, hoping she won't dent it. Luckily it doesn't dent as easily as human ships. "You've got a better chance than I do. My parents found me in a space ship. I'm an alien." She frowns, looking around. "I'm not human." Kara Zor-El pauses. "Look... even if you aren't human.... that's not - um... okay lets put it like this. My cousin wasnt born on Earth... but he was raised on Earth. And he thinks of himself as human. It's all about where you feel you call home." Which does bring up the question about how Kara has trouble thinking of herself as an alien, given her HOME was Krypton. She changes the subject. "Look... I'm going to take this and get it analyzed. Do you have a phone number or something I can reach you at?" Mia pauses. She apparently thinks about it for a second and comes to the conclusion. In for a penny... Taking off her mask finally, she says, "Cira Mia Walkers, 22 cherry lane. 555-175-1834. Text me first if you're coming over. My parents know about me being hero-ey, so you can actually come over if you want but keep it on the down low. Only my family calls me Cira, I'm Mia to everyone else. We cool? Because if you're taking off with that, I want to get out of here before someone charges me for the damage to the garden." Kara Zor-El smiles and nods. "We're cool. And don't worry, I'll come back and fix this up after I get this somewhere safe to study it." She floats up with the pod in hand. "I'll call as soon as I've checked this out, Cira. Or do you prefer Mia?" Mia raises an eyebrow, hip cocked. She knows how to look sarcastic if she wants to. "Cira if I'm wearing the ...I hesitate to call it a super outfit but it's what I can afford. Mia if you want me to actually answer if you see me on the street." she motions to the space ship with a hand, then grins. "Mind if I get home myself? I picked up one more trick I don't get to use near enough, and I need the practice." Kara Zor-El nods a bit. "Sure thing. Remember your car though." She waves at Mia, then flies off. She was definitely going to have to ask Kal about THIS. Mia hops up onto the thick brick retaining wall of the garden with an almost medieval grin. She bends her knees about halfway, elbows back, then jumps. The wall fractures under her feet, and she leaps into the sky with those super strong legs propelling her in a jump worthy of the Incredible Hulk on a good day. She can be heard whooping a bit as she does so. Overshoots her car a bit, but she did say she needs practice. Besides, it's a rental.